President Xi Jinping and other world leaders have arrived in the Russian city of Kazan for the Brics summit.

Xi was greeted at the airport by Russian officials upon his arrival on Tuesday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa are among the leaders joining the gathering in Kazan.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is also undertaking his first trip to Russia since April 2022 to attend the summit.

Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov touted the summit as the largest foreign-policy event ever held by Russia, with 36 countries attending and more than 20 of them represented by heads of state.

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the three-day meeting also offers a powerful way to demonstrate the failure of US-led efforts to isolate Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

The Brics alliance, which initially comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has expanded rapidly to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have formally applied to become members, and a few others have expressed an interest in joining. (Agencies)